Miller muscles in on the action to punish Preston

Having found himself surplus to requirements in Sven-Goran Eriksson's foreign-obsessed restructuring of Manchester City, young centre-forward Ishmael Miller wasted little time on his West Brom debut in showing his former employers what they have sacrificed for the remainder of the season.

Having witnessed the 20-year-old claim his first goal in professional football with a devastating demonstration of power, poise and pace, his new manager Tony Mowbray picked out the mot juste to describe the quality his new acquisition brings to the Championship club - 'brutality'.

'We knew what his attributes are, what his assets are,' said Mowbray, who has signed Miller on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent signing.

'We said in the week that he is a young boy who has plenty of work to do but who has assets our team needs - brutality, if that's the right word, size, strength, bags of pace and a decent finish as well. Let's hope we can continue to improve him and see that on a regular basis.'

A product of City's superb youth programme which has produced, among others, England defender Micah Richards and current first-teamer Michael Johnson, Miller is a phenomenal athlete, more resembling an Olympic decathlete than a footballer. Whether he has the necessary football quality to match his breathtaking physical prowess remains to be seen. But, joining a stable of forwards which already includes Kevin Phillips, Craig Beattie, Nathan Ellington and, should he return to fitness, John Hartson, his development will be interesting to witness.

Ironically, Miller had been targeted by Preston before opting for The Hawthorns last week and he had been on the field for only five minutes when he scored his goal, having replaced Phillips, who opened the scoring with his last touch of the game in the 65th minute.

Miller, listed at 6ft 3in and a surely under-estimated 14 stone, collected the ball just inside the Preston half, shrugged off the attending defenders, ignoring some blatant shirt-pulling in the process, and hared at electrifying pace into the visiting area before hitting an unstoppable shot past Wayne Henderson.

That killed off any lingering uncertainty about the outcome of the game although, given Preston's lack of firepower and their fragile current psyche after the midweek Carling Cup defeat by Morecambe, Phillips' opener had pretty much earned Albion the three points.

Phillips had, inexplicably, been left unmarked at the far post, five yards from goal, and James Morrison's pinpoint cross found the veteran forward's head with unerring accuracy - indeed so accurate and quick was the centre that it was debatable how much the former England striker knew about his second goal in as many games.

Starting alongside Beattie, one of five summer signings selected by Mowbray, Phillips is clearly a force at this level and the pair showed glimpses of forming an effective partnership. Before the goals, Beattie went close with two half-chances, one of which he placed just off target, the other drawing a save from Henderson.

'The strikers know they are all going to get games, all going to play,' added Mowbray. 'It's important we keep them all feeling they have an important part to play and that whichever two start work extremely hard and give as much as they can.'

Mowbray's opposite number, Paul Simpson, also has strikers on his mind, although their lack of productivity is paramount in his thoughts, not a surplus of talent. 'The big thing missing in the first three games has been the forward play,' he said. 'We're not threatening the goalkeeper enough. We have to make sure they get the mentality that we want to score goals and want to be positive.'